Paul de Jong of the Books Announces Solo Debut

BY Alex HudsonPublished Feb 10, 2015

Since the breakup of the Books, Nick Zammuto has gone on to make albums under the mononym Zammuto. Now, his former bandmate, cellist and found sound collagist Paul de Jong is getting in on the fun by announcing his own solo album. IF will be out on April 28 through Temporary Residence.

The album apparently builds off early Books albums like The Lemon of Pink and draws on the songwriter's library of samples.

At the bottom of this page, get a taste of IF in the form of the opening track "Auction Block." It includes an array of samples — including a motor-mouthed auctioneer, hence the title — along with folk instrumentation that gradually shifts from quietly beautiful to frantically urgent.

Also below, scroll past the tracklist to watch a trailer video also featuring "Auction Block." The clip is slightly NSFW, since it includes some risqué images like a bare butt getting flogged.

De Jong said in a statement, "For the past year, I've been happily chasing utopian musical concepts in the good company of my family, a drumming farmer and his musician friends, an array of traditional and makeshift instruments and my sample library that has by now taken on the characteristics of a vast sunken continent. It's time to come up for air."

The album is available to pre-order on vinyl or CD right here.

IF:

1. Auction Block
2. Hollywald
3. This Is Who I Am
4. IF
5. Golden Gate
6. Debt Free
7. Baxter @ 73
8. Snakes
9. Age of the Sea
10. Purpose
11. The Art of What
12. Troia

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